Shabazz Napier pulled off his latest trick Monday night, beating No. 15 Florida at the buzzer, and then took off. UConn's senior guard, another amazing moment in a growing line of them in his hip pocket, sprinted off the Gampel Pavilion court as if he were late for a flight. His sweet shot that gave the No. 12 Huskies a 65-64 triumph before an electrified sellout crowd of 10,167 followed a terrible shot and a near turnover.

And Napier just wanted to get away.

"I'm kind of claustrophobic," Napier said.

As he took off toward the lockerroom, his teammates followed. Trailing in a frenzy was a good portion of the student section. Standing in bewilderment on the sidelines were the Gators (6-2), stung by a guy who has a tendency to leave opponents in a daze.

There was a good deal of luck involved in the play. Somewhere along the line, Napier was touched with good luck. But such a thing is also made and Napier, with plenty of help from the Huskies (8-0), makes a lot of it.

"Sometimes it's really not fair," guard Niels Giffey said. "He puts the ball up against four guys and somehow it ends up back in his hands. In the end, everything happens for a reason.

"As long as we have Shabazz on the team, it's going to be a pretty good team."

Napier scored the Huskies' final six points of the game in a 33-second span, finishing with a game-high 26 points. The first four came when he converted a four-point play, hitting a 3-pointer while being fouled and then knocking home the ensuing free throw.

The shot came after Lasan Kromah rebounded a missed Napier 3 and then Giffey pushed a missed Kromah 3 out to Napier. Florida, playing the last three minutes without point guard Scottie Wilkebin, who left the game with an ankle injury, knew it had to try to trap Napier on the final play.

UConn took possession with 17.7 seconds left after Michael Frazier breezed in for a layup to put Florida on top, 64-63. Napier was trapped, nearly turned the ball over and then threw up a horrific shot. DeAndre Daniels got a hand on the rebound, which bounced straight to Napier.

He put it up with less than a second left and the buzzer sounded as the 15-footer dropped through.

"I missed (the first one) terribly," Napier said. "I was glad DeAndre ran to the boards. DeAndre put a hand on the ball and it bounced up higher. I was able to be in the right spot at the right time. I shot the ball and I knew it was going in."

Is there every any doubt with Napier involved?

In a game rife with physical play, 14 lead changes and seven ties, it was likely going to come down to something heroic. Doubtless it was going to involve Napier somehow.

UConn coach Kevin Ollie described it thusly: "Shabazz, make a play."

He did when it mattered each time, but until the final 33 seconds, he hadn't scored in nearly nine minutes. However, his prior basket capped a 10-0 UConn run that erased a 48-41 deficit. The run began when the Huskies ran a play specifically for Giffey, who drained a 3-pointer.

Gampel went bonkers at that point and stayed that way throughout. It was March in December, complete with a shot that brought back memories of Richard Hamilton's buzzer beater against Washington in the Sweet 16 of the 1998 NCAA Tournament.

It gave the Huskies their third one-point victory of the season, something they haven't done since the second national title season in 2003-04. It sent Florida back home in a fog.

"I'm still in disbelief," Florida forward Patric Young said. "It's hard to process something like that."

On the other hand, UConn has ceased to be surprised by anything Napier fashions. He pulls his teammates along as far as he feels he needs to and then he does what he does.

Time and again.

"Look at this stat sheet," Ollie said, pointing at a box score that had little in UConn's favor. "I don't know how we do it. It's just a magical team."

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